Posts Tagged: claims
Amazon to pay $1.9 million to settle claims of human rights abuses of contract workers
Amazon will pay out $ 1.9 million to more than 700 migrant workers to settle claims of human rights abuses following exploitative labor contracts, as reported by CNBC. The impacted laborers were working at two of the company’s warehouses in Saudi Arabia.
Amazon acknowledged the issue in a blog post, saying it hired a third-party labor rights expert to investigate warehouse conditions. The organization found numerous violations of Amazon’s supply chain standards, including “substandard living accommodations, contract and wage irregularities and delays in the resolution of worker complaints.”
This follows an Amnesty International report from last October that detailed various alleged human rights abuses experience by those contracted to work in Amazon facilities in the region, and noted that many of the impacted laborers were “highly likely to be victims of human trafficking.” The report also suggested that Amazon was aware of the high risk for labor abuse when operating in Saudi Arabia but still “failed to take sufficient action to prevent such abuses.”
Simultaneous reports by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism offered detailed accounts of the conditions that these laborers allegedly suffered under, according to NBC News. The investigations found that workers had to pay illegal recruitment fees of up to $ 2,040 to get hired. This forced the migrant workers, many of whom were from Nepal, to take out loans with high interest rates.
Investigators also learned that these workers were living in squalid conditions, with one laborer saying he was living “in a crowded room with seven other men, jammed with bunk beds infested with bed bugs.” The water was said to be salty and undrinkable. Amnesty International echoed these findings, saying that the accommodations were “lacking even the most basic facilities.”
The combination of the exorbitant hiring fees, along with the associated loans, amounted to “human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation as defined by international law and standards,” Amnesty alleged in its report.
Amazon has stated that it has “remediated the most serious concerns” involving the two Saudi warehouses, including an upgrade to housing accommodations. “Our goal is for all of our vendors to have management systems in place that ensure safe and healthy working conditions; this includes responsible recruitment practices,” the company wrote.
It’s worth noting that though that $ 1.9 million number seems high, it breaks down to around $ 2,700 per employee. Amazon made $ 576 billion in 2023, which comes out to more than $ 1.5 billion each day.
Amazon doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to labor. It’s regularly accused of breaking labor laws, particularly at its many product warehouses. The company is also rabidly anti-union, as many of these complaints involve attempts to stop workers from unionizing. Amazon faces multiple ongoing federal probes into its safety practices, and it has been fined by federal safety regulators for exposing warehouse workers to unnecessary risks.
However, the company remains defiant in its efforts to chip away at worker’s rights. Amazon recently filed a legal document that claims the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unconstitutional, joining Elon Musk’s SpaceX and grocery giant Trader Joe’s. The NLRB is an independent arm of the federal government that enforces US labor law and has been operating since 1935.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-to-pay-19-million-to-settle-claims-of-human-rights-abuses-of-contract-workers-192237377.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
T-Mobile claims its latest data leak isn’t caused by a cyberattack
T-Mobile is back in the news and yes, the carrier has once again experienced issues trying to protect its customer’s data. After numerous reports by Uncarrier subscribers saying that they were seeing other subscriber’s data in the T-Mobile app, rather than yet another data breach causing by a cyberattack the carrier is saying that it […]
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DOJ reportedly investigating Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving claims after crashes
The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating whether Tesla has misled customers and investors by claiming that its Autopilot technology enables full-fledged self-driving capabilities. According to Reuters, the DOJ launched the probe last year following over a dozen crashes, including fatal ones, in which Autopilot was activated. Prosecutors in Washington and San Francisco are examining if Tesla had made unsupported full self-driving claims about the technology, and they could ultimately pursue criminal charges or seek sanctions. But they could also shut the probe down without doing anything if they determine that Tesla hasn’t done anything wrong.
Back in August, reports came out that the California DMV had filed complaints against the automaker with the California Office of Administrative Hearings. The state’s DMV had accused Tesla of using advertising language on its website for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving products that aren’t based on facts and made it seem like its vehicles are capable of fully driverless trips. One example is part of the Autopilot page on Tesla’s website that says “All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go.” In the same page, there’s a video that starts with a note that reads “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He isn’t doing anything. The car is driving itself.”
But at the same time, Tesla explicitly states in its support page that “Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel.” Those currently enabled features, the company added, “do not make the vehicle autonomous.” Its sources told Reuters that Tesla’s warnings that drivers should keep their hands on the wheel could complicate any case the DOJ may bring.
Aside from the Justice Department, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is also looking into Tesla’s Autopilot system. The agency initiated a probe in 2021 following the report of 11 crashes with parked first responder vehicles since 2018. Those crashes results in 17 injuries and one death. In June this year, the NHTSA upgraded the probe’s status and expanded it to cover almost all Tesla vehicles sold since 2014.
‘Destiny 2’ cheat maker AimJunkies claims Bungie hacked them
Destiny 2 developer Bungie has been on a legal spree recently: It sued one user over cheating and threats against its employees, as well as a YouTuber who issued nearly 100 false DMCA claims against other creators. But after suing the cheat developer AimJunkies last year, Bungie is now facing a countersuit. AimJunkies claims the developer illegally hacked an associate's computer, reports TorrentFreak (via Kotaku). Additionally, they allege Bungie also violated the DMCA by breaking through that machine's security.
Bungie's current Limited Software License Agreement (LSLA) gives the company's BattleEye software permission to scan computers for anti-cheat tools, but that wasn't true back in 2019, when the alleged hack began. According to AimJunkie's counter-suit, Bungie accessed a computer owned by its associate James May several times throughout 2019 and 2021. It goes on to allege that Bungie used information from those hacks to gather information about other potential suspects.
Phoenix Digital, the company behind AimJunkies, didn't stop there. It also claims the Bungie violated its Terms of Service by buying AimJunkies' software and reverse-engineering its source code. If this all sounds a bit ironic, that's because Bungie accused the company of similar tactics in its original suit. James May and Phoenix Digital are demanding damages, as well as an end to any future hacks and DMCA breaches. We've asked Bungie for comment, and will update if we hear back.
Anonymous claims responsibility for Moscow traffic jam tied to app exploit
On Thursday morning, Moscow’s busy Fili district became the site of a traffic jam unlike any before it. Motherboard (via The Verge) reports hackers used Russia’s Yandex Taxi ride-hailing app to order dozens of drivers to coverage on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. The act caused traffic on part of the already congested street to come to a standstill for about 40 minutes while Yandex worked to address the situation.
“On the morning of September 1st, Yandex Taxi encountered an attempt by attackers to disrupt the service — several dozen drivers received bulk orders to the Fili district of Moscow,” a Yandex spokesperson told Motherboard. In a separate statement shared with Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency, Yandex said it reworked its routing algorithm following the attack to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. The event is one of the first known instances of hackers exploiting a ride-hailing app to create a traffic jam.
Someone hacked #YandexTaxi and ordered all available taxis to Kutuzov Prospect in Moscow
Now there is a huge traffic jam with taxis.
It‘s like James Bond movie. pic.twitter.com/IatuAEtA2i
— Russian Market (@runews) September 1, 2022
Several Twitter accounts claiming affiliation with Anonymous say the hacktivist collective is behind the incident. On Friday, one Anonymous account said the group worked with the IT Army of Ukraine, a volunteer organization formed at the start of the war, to carry out the attack.
Anonymous previously claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that took down multiple Russian government websites, including those belonging to the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defence. “Faced with this series of attacks that Ukraine has been suffering from the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, we could not help but support the Ukrainian people,” the group said at the time.
Twitter merges misinformation and spam teams following whistleblower claims
Twitter is making a major change to its organization after former security head Peiter "Mudge" Zatko accused the company of having lax security and bot problems. According to Reuters, Twitter is merging its health experience team, which is in charge of clamping down on misinformation and harmful content on the website, with its service team. The latter reviews profiles when they're reported and takes down spam accounts. Together, the combined group will be called Health Products and Services (HPS).
The group will be led by Ella Irwin, who joined the company in June and had previously worked for Amazon and Google. Reuters says Irwin sent a memo to staff members, telling them that HPS with "ruthlessly prioritize" its projects. "We need teams to focus on specific problems, working together as one team and no longer operating in silos," Irwin reportedly wrote.
In a statement sent to Reuters, a Twitter spokesperson said the reshuffling "reflects [the company's] continued commitment to prioritize, and focus [its] teams in pursuit of [its] goals." A source also told the news organization that the teams dealing with harmful and toxic content have had major staff departures recently. Merging these two teams may be the best way to ensure that all important roles are filled going forward.
This news comes on the heels of the revelation that Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint against his former employer. In it, he said Twitter has "extreme, egregious deficiencies" when it comes to security and that it prioritizes user growth over cleaning up spam. Shortly after The Washington Post reported on Zatko's complaint, which also raises concerns about national security, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle announced that they're looking into his claims.
In an email to employees, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal defended the company and echoed its spokesperson's statement that Zatko's complaint is a "false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies." You can read the whole memo, obtained by Bloomberg, below:
"Team,
There are news reports outlining claims about Twitter’s privacy, security, and data protection practices that were made by Mudge Zatko, a former Twitter executive who was terminated in January 2022 for ineffective leadership and poor performance. We are reviewing the redacted claims that have been published, but what we’ve seen so far is a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without important context.
I know this is frustrating and confusing to read, given Mudge was accountable for many aspects of this work he is now inaccurately portraying more than six months after his termination. But none of this takes away from the important work you have done and continue to do to safeguard the privacy and security of our customers and their data. This year alone, we have meaningfully accelerated our progress through increased focus and incredible leadership from Lea Kissner, Damien Kieran, and Nick Caldwell. This work continues to be an important priority for us, and if you want to read more about our approach, you can find a summary here.
Given the spotlight on Twitter at the moment, we can assume that we will continue to see more headlines in the coming days – this will only make our work harder. I know that all of you take a lot of pride in the work we do together and in the values that guide us. We will pursue all paths to defend our integrity as a company and set the record straight.
See you all at #OneTeam tomorrow,
Parag"
Bungie sues ‘Destiny 2’ YouTuber who issued almost 100 fake DMCA claims
In December of last year, a YouTuber by the name of Lord Nazo received copyright takedown notices from CSC Global — the brand protection vendor contracted by game creator Bungie — for uploading tracks from their game Destiny 2's original soundtrack. While some content creators might remove the offending material or appeal the copyright notice, Nazo, whose real name is Nicholas Minor, allegedly made the ill-fated decision to impersonate CSC Global and issue dozens of fake DMCA notices to his fellow creators. As first spotted by The Game Post, Bungie is now suing him for a whopping $ 7.6 million.
“Ninety-six times, Minor sent DMCA takedown notices purportedly on behalf of Bungie, identifying himself as Bungie’s 'Brand Protection' vendor in order to have YouTube instruct innocent creators to delete their Destiny 2 videos or face copyright strikes," the lawsuit claims, "disrupting Bungie’s community of players, streamers, and fans. And all the while, 'Lord Nazo' was taking part in the community discussion of 'Bungie’s' takedowns." Bungie is seeking “damages and injunctive relief” that include $ 150,000 for each fraudulent copyright claim: a total penalty of $ 7,650,000, not including attorney’s fees.
The game developer is also accusing Minor of using one of his fake email aliases to send harassing emails to the actual CSC Global with the subject lines such as “You’re in for it now” and “Better start running. The clock is ticking.” Minor also allegedly authored a "manifesto" that he sent to other members of the Destiny 2 community — again, under an email alias — in which he "took credit" for some of his activities. The recipients promptly forwarded the email to Bungie.
As detailed in the lawsuit, Minor appears to have done the bare minimum to cover his tracks: the first batch of fake DMCA notices used the same residential IP address he used to log-in to both his Destiny and Destiny 2 accounts, the latter of which shared the same Lord Nazo username as his YouTube, Twitter and Reddit accounts. He only switched to a VPN on March 27th — following media coverage of the fake DMCA notices. Meanwhile, Minor allegedly continued to log-in to his Destiny account under his original IP address until May.
Elon Musk claims Twitter’s legal team told him he violated an NDA
Elon Musk’s tweeting may have landed him in legal trouble again. As you may recall, the Tesla and SpaceX executive tweeted on Friday that his deal to buy Twitter was “temporarily on hold” after the company disclosed that fake and spam accounts represented less than 5 percent of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter of 2022.
Twitter legal just called to complain that I violated their NDA by revealing the bot check sample size is 100!
This actually happened.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2022
After his tweet prompted Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to say the company was “prepared for all scenarios,” Musk stated his team would test “a random sample of 100 followers” to verify Twitter’s numbers. According to the billionaire, one of the answers he gave to a question about his methodology prompted a response from Twitter’s legal team.
“I picked 100 as the sample size number, because that is what Twitter uses to calculate <5% fake/spam/duplicate,” he said in the alleged offending tweet. “Twitter legal just called to complain that I violated their NDA by revealing the bot check sample size is 100,” Musk later said of his actions.
We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment.
In another twist in Musk’s bid to buy Twitter, he also took aim at the platform’s algorithmic feed. “You are being manipulated by the algorithm in ways you don’t realize,” he said.
The message drew the attention of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. “It was designed simply to save you time when you are away from [the] app for a while,” Dorsey told Musk. “Pull to refresh goes back to reverse chron as well.”
it was designed simply to save you time when you are away from app for a while.
pull to refresh goes back to reverse chron as well.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) May 14, 2022
Dorsey then responded to someone who said Twitter’s algorithmic feed was “definitely” designed to manipulate. “No it wasn’t designed to manipulate. It was designed to catch you up and work off what you engage with,” Dorsey said. “That can def have unintended consequences tho.”
Musk later appeared to walk back his comment. “I’m not suggesting malice in the algorithm, but rather that it’s trying to guess what you might want to read and, in doing so, inadvertently manipulate/amplify your viewpoints without you realizing this is happening,” he said.
Should something come of Musk’s actions, this wouldn’t be the first time one of his tweets has landed him in legal trouble. Back in 2018, his now-infamous “funding secured” tweet attracted the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, leading to a $ 40 million settlement with the agency that he’s now trying to end.
The lawsuit against Fitbit claims that most of its wearables represent a burn risk
Back in March, we covered Fitbit’s recall of its overheating Ionic smartwatch for which the wearable brand was offering full $ 299 refunds and discounts if buying a replacement. Today brings the news of a new lawsuit that alleges that more than one Fitbit tracker or smartwatch is heating up and causing injuries, with fingers being […]
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All these outlandish battery life claims are getting silly
The increasingly wild claims made about the battery life to expect from our phones, smartwatches and other devices are getting out of hand.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Twitter parts ways with two-factor provider following claims of secret surveillance
Twitter has informed US Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) that it's transitioning away from using Mitto AG's services to deliver two-factor authentication codes to its users, according to Bloomberg. Swiss tech firm Mitto is an established provider of automated text messages that some big companies have been using to send out not just 2FA codes, but also sales promotions and appointment reminders. Bloombergreported in December, however, that one of its co-founders operated a secret surveillance operation that helped governments locate users through their phones.
Company COO Ilja Gorelik allegedly sold surveillance technology firms access to Mitto's networks, allowing them to track people using their mobile devices. Those companies, in turn, contracted with government agencies. Mitto told Bloomberg back then that it had no knowledge or involvement in Gorelik's surveillance operation and that it's launching an internal probe to determine if its technology and business had been compromised. The Wyden aide Bloomberg talked to said Twitter cited media reports as a major factor for its decision.
Aside from Twitter, Mitto's clients include Google, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, Tencent and Alibaba. Mitto has reportedly been telling customers that Gorelik is no longer with the firm. Still, the publication says several other clients have cut ties with Mitto since the report came out, though it's unclear if Google and the other well-known tech companies and services that it counts as customers are also parting ways with it.
There’s much ado about Nothing as Carl Pei claims a ‘major’ company attacked the supply chain
It’s bad enough that we have a global chip shortage that never seems to end but now it seems that there may be a case of industrial sabotage against Nothing. Having published a blog post complimenting his team on the performance of the company’s first product, the Ears (1), Nothing’s CEO went on to accuse […]
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WhatsApp claims spyware firm launched attacks with US servers
Facebook just escalated its lawsuit over surveillance firm NSO Group’s WhatsApp call exploit attacks. The WhatsApp team has filed accusations that NSO relied on US-based servers to stage its spyware attacks using Pegasus software. NSO reportedly used…
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Coronavirus claims another victim: Google I/O 2020 is getting canceled, will be online only this year
If you thought 2020 was going to be the year of folding phones, game streaming, or the Linux desktop, you’d be wrong. This year is all about things getting canceled and ruined thanks to the coronavirus. Google I/O is the next on the reaper’s list, and Google has officially nixed the physical event for their […]
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Mazda claims long-range EVs are worse for the planet than diesels
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Report claims not many people are buying $1000 smartphones; are you one of them?
Smartphone prices have ballooned in the last few years, with $ 1000 being the “standard” price for a flagship phone, and many devices going well over that. 5G and folding phones inflate that cost even more, making phones much more expensive than they’ve ever been. But according to an NPD report, not many consumers are buying […]
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DNC claims Russians launched more phishing attacks after midterms
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Rumor claims Google Hangouts will shut down in 2020
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Google claims Gmail safe from their prying eyes
Over the past couple days, Google found itself embroiled in some new controversy regarding the company’s treatment of users’ email. This is not the first time Google has dealt with fears that their employees may be reading user email messages, but this time around access by third-party developers is thrown into the mix. Yesterday Google […]
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Jeffrey Tambor leaves Amazon’s ‘Transparent’ over harassment claims
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Israeli company claims Apple copied its dual-camera tech
Whatever you think of your dual-camera iPhone, there's one company that's less than thrilled. Israeli startup Corephotonics is suing Apple for allegedly infringing on patented technology with the cameras in the iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus (it's likely…
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Samsung claims Galaxy Note 8 preorders are their best ever
Despite the Galaxy Note 7’s unexpected exit from the market, consumer enthusiasm for the Galaxy Note line doesn’t seem to have dipped at all. Samsung has announced that they’re experiencing better preorders for the Note 8 than any other device in the Galaxy Note family. At least, that’s what Samsung is claiming. According to their most […]
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Source claims Bixby Voice U.S. launch next week
The delays related to Samsung’s release of the voice-activated portion of the their digital assistant platform, Bixby, are well known and seem to continue with no end in sight. Until now that is if a tipster on Reddit is to be believed. According to this source, the official release date is set as next Tuesday, […]
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Waymo, Uber lawsuit narrows after most patent claims dropped by Alphabet
In an ongoing legal dispute between Uber and Waymo, Alphabet has dropped three of four patent claims and they have been instructed by the judge in the case to significantly reduce the scope of the trade secret claims that form the heart of the lawsuit. The legal dispute commenced when Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle division, […]
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AMD claims its Ryzen 5 is better value than Intel’s Core i5
AMD made a big comeback with its high-end Ryzen 7 CPUs, and it's now ready to take on Intel's Core i5 mid-range chips with the Ryzen 5. It's offering four chips in the family ranging from the $ 169 Ryzen 5 1400, a 3.2 GHZ 4-core, 8-thread chip, to the…
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Airbnb claims Santa Monica ban violates the Constitution
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England isn’t windy enough for new turbines, claims industry boss
Every country has its stereotypes, but England will always be famous for its terrible weather. You'd think a land labeled for its cold, wet and windy conditions would be ideal for generating energy, but it turns out that isn't the case. The head of t…
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The Zuck met with conservatives over news bias claims, and here’s what happened
Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday met with leading conservatives to discuss recent allegations of news bias at Facebook. The CEO insisted he wants to “build trust” with those who suspect the site suppresses stories from conservative news outlets.
The post The Zuck met with conservatives over news bias claims, and here’s what happened appeared first on Digital Trends.
YouTube forms team to fight false copyright claims
YouTube has taken the next step in its battle against false copyright infringement alerts by creating a team dedicated to minimizing mistakes.
The move follows cries for help from content creators using the video-sharing website that have had their videos removed in the past due to baseless legal claims.
Speaking about YouTube’s latest plan when it comes to tackling the issue, Spencer from YouTube’s Policy Team has released a statement on the website’s help forum.
According to the website spokesperson, YouTube has been monitoring false video removals very closely and is striving to do even better looking to the future.
Spencer said:
“The good news is that the feedback you’ve raised in comments and videos on YouTube and beyond is having an impact. It’s caused us to look closely at our policies and helped us identify areas where we can get better.
It’s led us to create a team dedicated to minimizing mistakes and improving the quality of our actions.”
Revealed in this latest post, YouTube will soon be rolling out a number of new initiatives to help out content creators, strengthening communication between YouTubers themselves and the website’s support team.
Meanwhile, users are being told that YouTube will be increasing transparency into the status of monetization claims, with the website’s makers hoping to get things rolling as quickly as possible.
It’s clear that the YouTube community is growing tired of false copyright claims, so YouTube’s Policy Team will be hoping its latest plan of action turns out to be a brilliant one.
Source: Google Product Forums
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Russian scientist claims injections of 3.5 million-year-old bacteria lead to longer life
After discovering a 3.5 million-year-old bacteria in Siberian permafrost, Russian scientist Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov thinks it might be the key to achieve eternal life. He’s so confident, he’s already injected himself with it.
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